1917 (2019 film)
| writer = | starring = | music = Thomas Newman | cinematography = Roger Deakins | editing = Lee Smith | studio = | distributor = | released = | runtime = 119 minutes | country = | language = English | budget = $90–100 million | gross = $143.5 million }} 1917 is a 2019 epic war film directed, co-written and produced by Sam Mendes. The film stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. It is based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, and chronicles the story of two young British soldiers during World War I who are given a mission to deliver a warning of an ambush during a skirmish, soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich in 1917. The project was officially announced in June 2018, with MacKay and Chapman signing on in October and the rest of the cast the following March. Filming took place from April to June 2019 in England and Scotland, with cinematographer Roger Deakins using long takes to have the entire film appear as one continuous shot. 1917 premiered in the UK on 4 December 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on 25 December by Universal Pictures and in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2020, by eOne. The film was praised by critics for Mendes's direction, the performances, cinematography, musical score, sound effects and realism. Among its various accolades, the film received 10 nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards the film won for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director and at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards it received nine nominations. It also won the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture. Plot During the First World War in April 1917, the German army has pulled back from a sector of the Western Front in the north of France. General Erinmore briefs two young British soldiers, Lance Corporal Tom Blake and Lance Corporal Will Schofield. Aerial reconnaissance has spotted that the Germans are not in retreat but have made a tactical withdrawal to their new Hindenburg Line, where they are waiting to overwhelm the attacking British with artillery. With field telephone lines cut, Blake and Schofield are ordered to hand-deliver a message to the Second Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, calling off their planned attack, which might cost the lives of 1,600 men including Blake's brother Lieutenant Joseph Blake. Schofield and Blake cross no man's land and reach the abandoned German trenches. These turn out to contain tripwires, which a rat triggers. The ensuing explosion almost kills Schofield, but Blake digs him out. They arrive at an abandoned farmhouse, where they witness a dogfight. The German plane plunges into the farm and Schofield and Blake attempt to save the burned pilot. Schofield proposes to mercy kill him, but Blake has Schofield fetch water for the pilot. The pilot stabs Blake and is shot dead by Schofield, who comforts Blake as he dies, promising to complete the mission. Schofield is picked up by a passing British unit. A destroyed bridge near the bombed-out village, Écoust-Saint-Mein, prevents lorries from crossing, so Schofield crosses alone on the remnants of the bridge. This draws an attack by a German sniper across the river. Schofield tracks down and kills the sniper, only to be knocked out by a ricocheting bullet. Schofield regains consciousness at night. Fired upon by a German soldier, Schofield stumbles into the hiding place of a French woman with an infant. She treats his wounds and he gives her his canned food and his canteen filled with milk from the farm. Continuing, Schofield is twice discovered by German soldiers, drawing attacks. He strangles one German and pushes past another who is too inebriated to stop him. Other soldiers give chase but he escapes the gunfire by jumping into a river. Schofield reaches the Battalion just before the British attack begins. Failing to stop the start of the attack, he sprints across the battlefield, after realising that the trenches are too full of soldiers for him to make it to the commander in time. The British infantry begin their charge; they, along with Schofield, are bombarded by German artillery. Schofield forces his way into meeting Colonel Mackenzie, and the attack is called off. Schofield then locates Joseph – who was among the first attacking wave but is unhurt – and delivers the news of Blake's death. Joseph is upset but thanks Schofield for his efforts. Schofield asks to write to Blake's mother to tell her about Blake's heroics, to which Joseph agrees. Schofield walks away and sits under a nearby tree. The film ends with Schofield looking at his photos, and the audience learns that he has two young daughters and a wife at home. Cast Production Development and casting Amblin Partners and New Republic Pictures were announced to have acquired the project in June 2018, which was to be set in World War I, with Sam Mendes directing and writing the screenplay alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Tom Holland was reported to be in talks for the film in September 2018 though ultimately did not get involved, and in October, Roger Deakins was reported to be reuniting with Mendes to serve as cinematographer. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman entered negotiations to star that same month. Thomas Newman was hired to compose the score in March 2019. That same month, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Richard Madden, Andrew Scott, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan and Claire Duburcq joined the cast. Writing Karl Vick, writing for Time magazine, stated that the writing involved some risk-taking by Mendes quoting, "I took a calculated gamble, and I'm pleased I did because of the energy you get just from driving forward (in the narrative), in a war that was fundamentally about paralysis and stasis." The ideas for the script, which Mendes wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, came from the story that Mendes's grandfather, Alfred Mendes, a native of Trinidad who was a messenger for the British on the Western Front, had told him.Karl Vick. Time magazine. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41. In August 2019, Mendes was quoted as saying, "It's the story of a messenger who has a message to carry. And that's all I can say. It lodged with me as a child, this story or this fragment and obviously I've enlarged it significantly. But it has that at its core." Filming The cinematographer chosen for the film was Roger Deakins, who has received 15 Oscars nominations, winning once.Karl Vick. Time magazine. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41. Filming was accomplished with long takes and elaborately choreographed moving camera shots to give the effect of one continuous take. Time reported: "The camera stays with the two lance corporals from the film's first frame to its last, as if unfolding in one long take, much like the technique used by Alejandro González Iñárritu in his 2015 Best Picture winner Birdman. The aim is to immerse the viewer in a propulsive, at times headlong journey that travels like a lit fuse."Karl Vick. Time magazine. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41. Filming began on 1 April 2019 and continued through June 2019 in Wiltshire, Hankley Common in Surrey and Govan, Scotland, as well as at Shepperton Studios. Concern was raised over the planned filming on Salisbury Plain by conservationists who felt the production could disturb potentially undiscovered remains in the area, requesting a survey be conducted before any construction for sets began on the land. Some shots required the use of as many as 500 background extras. Sections of the film were also shot in and around Low Force, on the River Tees, Teesdale in June 2019. The production staff had to install signs warning walkers in the area not be alarmed by the bodies strewn around the site as they were prosthetic. Release The film premiered on 4 December 2019, at the 2019 Royal Film Performance. The film experienced a very limited release in the United States and Canada on 25 December 2019. This allowed it to become eligible for 2020 awards, the first of which was the 77th Golden Globe Awards held on 5 January 2020. The film won both the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Motion Picture and Best Director for Mendes. Reception Box office , 1917 has grossed $81.6 million in the United States and Canada and $61.9 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $143.5 million. The film made $251,262 from 11 theaters on its first day of limited release. It went on to have a limited opening weekend of $570,000 and five-day total of $1 million (an average of $91,636 per-venue). The film made $2.7 million over its 15 days of limited release. It then made $14 million on its first day of wide release, including $3.25 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to make $36.5 million in the weekend (besting original $25 million projections), becoming the first film to dethrone Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker atop the box office. Critical response On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 355 reviews, with an average rating of 8.43/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Hard-hitting, immersive, and an impressive technical achievement, 1917 captures the trench warfare of World War I with raw, startling immediacy." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 69% of people saying they would definitely recommend it. George MacKay's performance received high praise, with several critics naming it among the best of 2019, including Kate Erbland of IndieWire and Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter. Karl Vick writing for Time magazine found the film to stand up favourably when compared to Stanley Kubrick's WWI film Paths of Glory stating: "Stanley Kubrick located a superb film, 1957's Paths of Glory, in the ornate chambers of the generals who oversaw the waste of those lives (the thousands of war casualties). But motion pictures do require a certain amount of motion, and the major accomplishment of 1917, the latest film to join the canon, may be that its makers figured out what the generals could not: a way to advance."Karl Vick. Time magazine. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41. Rubin Safaya of AwardsWatch.com described the movie as "A visceral experience and visual masterclass". Writing for the Hindustan Times, Rohan Naahar says: "I can only imagine the effect 1917 will have on audiences that aren't familiar with the techniques Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins are about to unleash upon them." Top ten lists 1917 appeared on many critics' year-end top-ten lists, among them: * 1st Sam Allard, Cleveland Scene * 1st Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post * 1st Tim Miller, Cape Cod Times * 1st Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer * 1st Mal Vincent, The Virginian-Pilot * 1st Sandy Kenyon, WABC-TV * 2nd Randy Myers, The Mercury News * 3rd Matt Goldberg, Collider * 3rd Jason Rantz, KTTH * 3rd Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly * 3rd Chuck Yarborough, Cleveland Plain Dealer * 4th Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press * 4th Benjamin Lee, The Guardian * 4th Brian Truitt, USA Today * 5th Staff consensus, Consequence of Sound * 5th Bruce Miller, Sioux City Journal * 6th Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle * 6th Peter Travers, Rolling Stone * 6th Ethan Alter, Marcus Errico and Kevin Polowy, Yahoo! Entertainment * 6th Chris Bumbray, JoBlo * 6th Peter Howell, Toronto Star * 7th David Crow, Den of Geek * 7th Tom Gliatto, People * 8th Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter * 8th Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner * 8th Anita Katz, San Francisco Examiner * 8th Col Needham, IMDb * 9th Richard Whittaker, The Austin Chronicle * 9th Dann Gire, Chicago Daily Herald * 9th Mike Scott, New Orleans Times-Picayune * 10th Max Weiss, Baltimore Magazine Accolades 1917 received ten nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards. It received three nominations at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, winning two for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director. It also received eight nominations at the 25th Critics' Choice Awards and nine nominations at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. It was chosen by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year. 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